Money and fast cars have always been a heady mix. And with Adelaide already playing host to season finale of the Australian supercar series this weekend, there was no better way to rev up the excitement in the city of churches by bringing together an impressive collection of billionaires, central bankers, dealmakers and money managers.
The Sohn Hearts & Minds Investment Leaders Conference is on tour for the third time in its nine-year history, with the South Australian government making its own value investment by pumping a rumoured $500,000 into the event, in return for some handy dollars for local medical research and the chance to burnish its credentials as an investment hub.
The event has raised $70 million for medical research since its launch.
“There’s no finer place for the finance festival than in the festival city,” declared Matthew Grounds, who, along with his fellow co-executive chairman of Barrenjoey, Guy Fowler and veteran director and activist Gary Weiss, is the driving forces behind the Sohn juggernaut.
Mark Caledonia and Michael Walsh, who have been key behind-the-scenes players at Sohn since its inception, were also prominent.
The traditional party that opens Sohn each year was held on Thursday night at Adelaide’s stunning Botanic Gardens and attracted a raft of big names.
Billionaire retailer and philanthropist Solomon Lew and his wife Roza were showing no signs of jet lag, despite having flown in from London.
Former Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe, now the chairman of the Future Generation listed investment companies and a board member of Barrenjoey, enjoyed a stirring Welcome to Country from local elder Cliffy Wilson.
Craig Drummond, chairman of Transurban and the Australian Foundation Investment Company was deep in enemy territory (he’s also the president of AFL footy club Geelong), while Santos director Yasmin Allen flew the flag for the home team.
The venture capital sector was represented by Square Peg’s Paul Bassat and Blackbird partner Niki Scevak.
Among the ASX-listed chief executives, Dig Howitt of Cochlear (with wife Kate, now a board member of Commonwealth Bank) and Gil McLachlan of Tabcorp were enjoying the Adelaide twilight, but the hero of the night was Tim Ford of Treasury Wine Estates, who kept the Penfolds flowing all night.
(We were less sure about the female model perched atop the Penfolds bar, who was body painted live in front of the crowd. We can only assume it was a tribute to SA’s famous arts-loving premier, Don Dunstan.)
A host of the biggest names in Australian funds management held court, including doyens David Paradice, John Sevior, Chris Cuffe and Geoff Wilson.
Munro’s Nick Griffin, Ellerston’s Chris Kourtis and Argo’s Jason Beddow were joined by Antipodes’ Vihari Ross and the fashionably late (and always fashionable) Sohn star and breakaway fundie Jun Bei Lu.
Looking particularly proud were the Adelaide contingent, who welcomed the whole circus to their home town on Thursday evening.
Hostplus deputy chief investment officer Con Michalakis riffed on Donald Trump, bonds and private assets, while David Prescott of Lanyon Asset Management – the very first Sohn Hearts & Minds presenter in 2016 – was thrilled to see the event in Adelaide.
This article was originally posted by The Australian Financial Review here. Licensed by Copyright Agency. You must not copy this work without permission.
